1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to wall hangers for extreme recreational sports equipment and in particular to a wall hanger with a single hanger unit that holds the end of a skateboard or a scooter up on a pair of hooks and keeps the wheels and other parts of the skateboard and scooter away from contact with the wall by means of a spacer arm.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Storage and display are always problems in any home or business never seems to be enough space to store everything in a way that makes access easy for retrieving the stored items.
Some items which are used constantly or having particular meaning or attractive appearance are desirable to store in visible locations with very easy access. Skate boards and Razor-type scooters fall into all of these categories for avid users of these devices.
Wall storage can be a good solution for items such as these. The items stored on the wall are highly visible and easily accessible. However there is a problem with marring the wall, especially with these recreational devices that are used outdoors and are likely to have dirt or tar or other matter on the wheels that would make hard to remove spots on the wall if the wheels came into contact with the wall.
Some attempts have been made at wall storage for skateboards and Razor-type scooters. None have solved the problem of provided a simple inexpensive wall hanging hook for hanging a skateboard or a scooter and at the same time keeping the wheels from contacting the wall.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,305,897, issued Apr. 26, 1994 to Smith, provides a wall mounted skateboard storage rack having two upper cradles with side walls to support one set of wheels and an elongated plate extending downwardly with side walls to receive the lower set of wheels resting on the elongated plate with the lower side walls to prevent side motion of the lower wheels and maintain the skateboard in a vertical orientation.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,120,012, issued Jun. 09, 1992 to Rosenau, shows an apparatus for detachably mounting a skateboard or skates having an elongated wall mounted board with an upper and lower flexible clips for retaining the two sets of skateboard wheels between the clips with both sets of wheels contacting the board.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,301,818, issued Apr. 12, 1994 to Dix, claims a support rack for a skateboard having a small wall-mounted support plate with a pair of upper wheel supports to support a pair of wheels on the skateboard with the skateboard hanging downwardly and the other pair of wheels contacting the wall.
U.S. Pat. No. Des. 421,082, issued Feb. 22, 2000 to Lopez, shows the design of a hanger for a skateboard with receptacles for a pair of wheels and a portion of the wheel support, which would have the other pair of wheels contacting the wall.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,199,880, issued Mar. 13, 2001 to Favorito, provides a convertible skateboard/scooter with a fold-down handle. The handle can be used for carrying the scooter or hanging the scooter in the fold down position. A hanger for the scooter is not claimed.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,329,088, issued Apr. 13, 1942 to Schram and U.S. Pat. No. 5,702,006, issued Dec. 30, 1997 to Durham, both show a double hook element for supporting the handle bar of a bicycle to support the bicycle in a vertical position. The Schram patent just holds the bike up with the rear tire on the ground. The Durham patent has a wall-mounted handle bar hook with an additional holder for the bicycle seat to retain the bike in a vertical orientation against the wall. Neither patent has a means for holding the bicycles away from the wall.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,316,155, issued May 31, 1994 to Collins, shows a ski rack mounted on a wall with a double hook element to support a pair of skis by one end of the ski binding with a second double hook element to retain the other end of the ski binding, with both hooks maintaining the skis in a vertical position against the wall. No element is provided to keep the skis out away from the wall.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,968,048, issued Nov. 6, 1990 to Lortie and U.S. Pat. No. 4,193,495, issued Mar. 18, 1980 to Keeley both claim supports for holding baseball bats in a vertical orientation. The Lortie invention has a slot at the top to receive the small end of the bat with the knob on the end being wider than the slot to hold the bat up. A circular hole in a base keeps the wide end of the bat from moving around. The Keeley patent has upper and lower two piece clamps for gripping the bat to hold it in a vertical orientation. Only in the Lortie patent is there a provision made for keeping the lower end of the bat from contacting the vertical support surface.
U.S. Pat. No. 434,819, issued Jul. 19, 1890 to Beckmann shows a two-sided wall-mounted support for brooms to hold them in a vertical orientation against the wall with the head of the broom resting across the support and the handle hanging down between the sides of the support. No provision is made to keep the brooms away from the wall.
None of the prior art patents have a simple hook support which also by itself holds the bottom wheels away from the wall provides an advantage over the prior patents in keeping the wheels from contacting the wall with a relatively small hanging mechanism compared to the large plates of the first two patents and makes your invention unique and patentable.